Conan the Invincible
is a Conan novel by Robert Jordan. Synopsis In the Kezankian mountains, the sorceror Amanar is interrupted in a sacrificial ritual to the demon-god Morath-Aminee, Eater of Souls, by the news that an enchanted item vital to him has been brought to Shadizar as a gift from King Yildiz. Morath-Aminee hints to Amanar that he is aware of what has been moved, forcing him to send his lizardman minions, the S'tarra, to retrieve it and find a new hiding place. Morath-Aminee empowers Amanar in return for his service and gratitude for having freed him from his imprisonment for rebelling against Set long before humanity's evolution. Meanwhile, in Shadizar Conan is hired by the Stygian sorceror and follower of Set Imhep-Aton, posing under the name Ankar, to steal five pendants that have just been sent as gifts from Yildiz. "Ankar" antagonizes Conan quickly with his patronizing attitude, but offers so much money to Conan for the theft that he takes the job anyway. When he goes in he meets Velita, a dancing slave girl sent along with the pendants, who shows him that it bears a very unusual stone, black with constantly-moving red flecks. Learning from Velita that the five pendants are with the five girls, Conan realizes that he cannot gather all of them at once, and leaves it with Velita with an oath sworn before Crom that he will free her from slavery. In return, she promises to bring all of the pendants with her to help him in his task. The next morning, Conan learns that bandits have raided the palace and taken all of the girls and all of the pendants. Asking around, he discovers that a band of travellers disguised as pilgrims have left Shadizar for the Kezankian Mountains, and follows them. Along the way, he meets Karela, the Red Hawk, a fame bandit queen who is falsely suspected of having conducted both the raid in the palace and the destruction of seven different merchant caravans in the last six months. Upon rescuing her from slavers, he forces her to swear by Derketo that she will not speak an uncivil word to him, nor raise her hand against him. Karela, a woman who is fiercely independent, beautiful, and very quick to anger, enters into a love-hate relationship with Conan and gets envious of his promise to Velita, quickly violating her oath on both counts. She fancies herself a queen-like figure among and envisions Conan as her consort, but is impressive in the discipline and skill with which she handles her rogues. Meanwhile, her lieutenant, Hordo, makes friends with Conan just as quickly, realizing that his emotional impact on Karela is disrupting her concentration but is unwilling to intervene. After he rescues her from the Kezankian hillmen by having Hordo take her horse's damaged reins and lead her to safety, Karela angrily forces him to swear by Crom that he will never again lift a hand to rescue her from danger. The bandits trace the pendants to Amanar's fortress, where several things become evident. First, that Amanar's S'tarra was responsible for the raid. Second, that Amanar has his own desires for Karela. Third, that Velita is still alive, although the other dancing girls are being killed one at a time. A confrontation ensues in which Conan finds that Amanar cannot be killed by his sword, and where Karela is enthralled by his sorcery to dance for him naked, among other things not clearly described. Upon consideration, Conan realizes that the pendant Velita had kept bears a great resemblance to Amanar's eyes, which are also black with red flecks. Hordo finds out what Amanar is doing to Karela and is distraught by it, and upon meeting Conan in Amanar's dungeons along with a king's guardsman who has also been sent to retrieve the pendants, they manage to escape, have the bandits and the king's soldiers storm Amanar's fortress, while Conan finds the pendant and goes to find Velita. He finds Velita chained and about to be sacrificed to Morath-Aminee by Amanar, upon which Imhep-Aton appears in the sacrificial chamber and informs Conan that the pendant contains Amanar's soul, to keep it safe from the Eater of Souls, and that if he destroys it he destroys Amanar. Conan initially finds that he cannot destroy the pendant due to protective enchantments upon it. Amanar orders Morath-Aminee to kill Imhep-Aton, and the demon-god complies by consuming the Stygian's soul. However, the order also angers the demon, and he orders Amanar to remove his protections and lie down to be fed upon. While Amanar begs for the demon's forgiveness, Conan manages to summon the will to hurl the pendant at the demon. The demon consumes the pendant, but the resulting backlash of enchantments destroys the demon, Amanar, and the fortress. In the aftermath, Conan meets Hordo, who departs to take up a smuggler's life far from the area. After leaving, he finds Karela, again enslaved naked on a coffle. Karela pleads with Conan to buy her from the slaver and free her, and after playing along with the idea for a moment Conan refuses to do so due to Karela's oath that he never again save her from danger, telling her that even though she now wishes to release him from the oath, she cannot do so because he swore the oath before gods. Conan leaves her to the slaver, gives his remaining money to Velita to help her on her way after fulfilling his oath to her free, and then returns to Shadizar after all is done. Characters * Conan * Karela the Red Hawk * Hordo * Amanar * Harinedes * Locations * Shadizar * Kezankian Mountains Publication history * (novel) • Robert Jordan • Tor June 1982 References Category:Conan book Category:Conan story Category:Conan novel